Queens DA, Feds Looking Into Alleged MTA Overtime Abuses

The Queens district attorney and the U.S. attorney’s office are looking into alleged overtime abuses by MTA employees, a source close to the investigation tells NBC New York.

The MTA board held an emergency meeting on May 10 in an attempt to crack down on the rampant overtime payouts. An audit showed a surge in overtime payments, especially to Long Island Rail Road employees.

The MTA said it has spent more than $1 billion in overtime alone.

In a statement, the Queens District Attorney said they have “met with and are in consultation with the MTA Inspector General’s Office.”

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A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office declined to comment.

Some employees of the transit authority were said to be making hundreds of thousands of dollars in overtime alone. A report found some LIRR employees, who made a regular salary of $100,000 a year, making as much as $300,000 in overtime.

One employee of the LIRR claimed to log 74 hours of overtime every week in addition to his regular hours, according to a report by the New York Times. He claims to have made more than $460,000 last year, which would be more than Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio make combined.

Overtime spending at the MTA has been an issue for quite some time, with critics pointing at Gov. Cuomo — who is in charge of the agency — for not curtailing it sooner.